Apple patent hints at touchscreen iMacs and MacBooks

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Figure 1

This new patent application might provide some intriguing clues as to what Apple is planning for its next big innovation. Read the blog post, "Apple's next big innovation: The iMac Touch?" and check out these excerpts of drawings and explanations to see what might be on the horizon.

FIG. 1 shows the computer system 100 oriented for a keyboard/mouse input mode. That is, in this particular example embodiment, when display 103 is oriented relatively upright, high, and further away from the user, a keyboard/ mouse input mode is selected.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 2

FIG. 2 shows computer system 100 oriented for a touch-based input mode. FIG. 2 shows display 103 oriented relatively flat, low, and closer to the user, in comparison to FIG. 1. In this particular example embodiment shown in FIG. 2, housing 101 has been pulled toward the user and pushed down flat, such that display 103 is now oriented for a touch input mode.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 3

FIG. 3 shows the computer system 300 oriented for a keyboard/mouse input mode. That is, similar to the previous example embodiment, when display 3 03 is oriented relatively upright, high, and further away from the user, a keyboard/ mouse input mode is selected.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 4

FIG. 4 shows computer system 300 oriented for a touch-based input mode. Similar to the previous example embodiment, FIG. 4 shows display 303 oriented relatively flat, low, and closer to the user, in comparison to the orientation shown in FIG. 3, that is, housing 301 has been pulled toward the user and pushed down flat, such that display 303 is now oriented for a touch input mode.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 5

FIG. 5 shows a display screen 501 in a housing 503. Housing 503 includes touch sensor areas 505 that detect touch. Touch sensor areas 505 can, for example, be wrapped around to the back of housing 503 (not shown). When a user wishes to change the orientation of display screen 501, the user will typically grab housing 503 at touch sensor areas 505. When the user grabs touch sensor areas 505, the touch sensor areas send touch detection signals to a processor (not shown). The touch detection signals can be used in addition to other orientation sensor signals, such as described above, to help detect that the user has changed the orientation of display 501.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 6

FIG. 6 shows an example high-resolution input mode UI 600, which is displayed on a display screen 601, that uses mouse/keyboard input. UI 600 includes a menu bar 603 having menu bar items 605, drop-down list items 606, a dock 607 having dock items 609, an application window 611 for a photo-editing software application having directory items 613, scrollbars 615, thumbnail images 617, buttons 618, and a mouse pointer 619. Using high-resolution input devices, such as a mouse, a user interacts with high resolution input mode UI 600 to select, manipulate, edit, etc., objects displayed on display screen 601.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 7

FIG. 7 illustrates one example method of transitioning from high-resolution input mode UI 600 to a low-resolution input mode UI according to embodiments of the invention. FIG. 7 shows a transition effect 700 image in which certain items of UI 600 appear to "slide off the edges of display screen 601. Specifically, menu bar 603 along with menu bar items 605, dock 607 along with dock items 609, directory items 613, scrollbars 615, and mouse pointer 619 each appear to move towards the closest edge of screen 601, and continue to move off of the screen until they disappear from view. FIG. 7 also shows other items of UI 600 appearing to increase in size. Specifically, transition effect 700 appears to zoom-in on application window 611, thumbnail images 617, and buttons 618.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 8

FIG. 8 illustrates an example low-resolution input mode UI 800 that is displayed after transition effect 700 is completed. Menu bar 603, menu bar items 605, dock 607, dock items 609, directory items 613, scrollbars 615, and mouse pointer 619 are no longer visible on display screen 601. UI 800 displays enlarged versions of application window 611 (811), thumbnail images 617 (817), and buttons 618 (818).

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 9a

FIG. 9A shows low-resolution input mode UI 800 displayed on screen 601. If the user would like to view items that have been slid off the screen due to transition effect 700, the user canuse a touch input, for example, the user can place his or her hand (or one or more fingers) on the screen and move the hand or fingers in a direction, to un-obscure the items.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 9b

FIG. 9B shows the result of the pulldown. The items of UI 800, including application window 811, thumbnail images 817, and buttons 818, have moved downward with the user's hand, and enlarged menu bar 603 (903) along with enlarged menu bar items 605 (905) have been pulled down from an offscreen position and are now viewable on screen 601. As shown in FIG. 9B, the user now has access to menu bar items 905, and consequently, may be able to select items from drop-down menus of menu bar 903. This may allow the user to access functions that might not otherwise be accessible in a low resolution input mode UI.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 10

FIG. 10 illustrates example computing system 1000 that can include one or more of the embodiments of the invention described above. Computing system 1000 can include one or more panel processors 1002 and peripherals 1004, and panel subsystem 1006. Peripherals 1004 can include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) or other types of memory or storage, watchdog timers and the like. Panel subsystem 1006 can include, but is not limited to, one or more sense channels 1008, channel scan logic 1010 and driver logic 1014. Channel scan logic 1010 can access RAM 1012, autonomously read data from the sense channels and provide control for the sense channels. In addition, channel scan logic 1010 can control driver logic 1014 to generate stimulation signals 1016 at various frequencies and phases that can be selectively applied to drive lines of touch sensor panel 1024. In some embodiments, panel subsystem 1006, panel processor 1002 and peripherals 1004 can be integrated into a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google
Figure 11

FIG. 11 illustrates an example personal computer 1144 that includes a keyboard 1134, a touch sensor panel (trackpad) 1124, and a touch screen display 1130. Personal computer 1144 includes hardware, software, and/or firmware for transitioning between a user interface for a high-resolution input mode and a user interface for a low-resolution input mode according to embodiments of the invention. For example, personal computer 1144 can be a tablet personal computer, for which the display 1130 can be oriented for??keyboard/trackpad input (high-resolution input mode), such as shown in FIG. 11, and the display can also be oriented for touch input (low-resolution input mode, not shown). For example, display 1130 may be rotated and laid flat against keyboard 1134, with the backside of the display facing down against the keyboard so that the display screen faces up, in an orientation for touch input.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google

Figure 1

This new patent application might provide some intriguing clues as to what Apple is planning for its next big innovation. Read the blog post, "Apple's next big innovation: The iMac Touch?" and check out these excerpts of drawings and explanations to see what might be on the horizon.

FIG. 1 shows the computer system 100 oriented for a keyboard/mouse input mode. That is, in this particular example embodiment, when display 103 is oriented relatively upright, high, and further away from the user, a keyboard/ mouse input mode is selected.

Image and summary taken from U.S. Patent Application number: 12/171,147 - Digitized by Google

By Selena Frye

Selena has been at TechRepublic since 2002. She is currently a Senior Editor with a background in technical writing, editing, and research. She edits Data Center, Linux and Open Source, Apple in the Enterprise, The Enterprise Cloud, Web Designer, and...

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